The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-29
BRAVE TEXAN RANGERS
THE SOLDIER-SHERIFFs WHO ppo
TECT THE FRONTIEP NJ
A Corps With History-Its orpsri,.
tlon-Secretary Bayard Not Tro1,a1"S
by the Majority of Extradition caoe eu
From the Nelc YORK lSfor

by the Majority of Extradition Casaa
From, the New York Star.
or the whole frontier line separatino, 4.
| republic of the United States from t5Ss .ne
public of Mexico there Is no portion he he re-
policed than that which extends FROM n0. "
Gulf of Mexico to Ell Paso, Tex. This i 'Ge
great measure due to the fact that - e IN
tae gulf to this little southwestern To-, rom 81
boundary between the two republics i .le
natural one, formed by the muddy straora
| of the Rio Grande But more esneciaIlS.
the security of this part of the border d. rs
the courageous and utiring efforts of t 10
portion of the State troops of Texas Lro, ,eaS
as the Texas Rangers There has not -i bee,i
a period in the history of Texas with wbich
the romantic name OF rangers has not been
more or less intimately connected TIL TIL
were rangers who fought against San+S1
Anna, and who fell in the desperate confl;ct
at the Aalmo, and it was dying RANGERS ~
bequeathed to their children the task of W. ~
geance which still inspires the Texan ~
every border conflict with the rallvinp crn
| Remember the Alanon '''
The corps of rangers formed part of tina
troops that fought against the Union dur;nT
the civil war, and indeed they were tbss
nucleus around which gathered and were
disciplined the wild frontier men of Teyas
who were, under Gen. Kirby Smith, the last
| to lay down their arms, long after Gem
Robert E. Lee had surrendered his sword r.
| Grant. 1t seems strange that though Texas
was the last of all the States to submit. She
really suffered so little Texas today owns
her public lands, and her mineral wealth Is
not controlled by the general mining laws Of
| the country. Moreover she has to-day. as
| in older times, her corps of rangers. solaIp
controlled by the State and yet maintains
| in active military service This is a unione
privilege and one which no other State in
| the Union enjoys.
There did not for some years after the war
and during the reconstruction period exist
| any State force in Texas, and the present
organization of rangers came into being in
1874, when Gov. Richard Coke was in office
| The whole force at the present time does NOT
number more than go men, yet it has been
| found amply sufficient to thoroughly police
| the frontier.
A Texas ranger, strange though it NAV
appear, is not usually a Texan by birth
! The rangers come from every part of the
Union, and quite number Of them ara
| young adventures, Eastern boys of good
| families 1t is impossible for a poor man to
| join this State force. He must have, as
| preliminary to enlistment, horse of his
| own, a Winchester rifle, all the necessities
for camping out, and about 500 invested in
| his outfit. He joins for term of six months
and receives $50 a month for his services
| State provides him with all the ammunition ,
he may care to fire away, and under such
| circumstances it is needless to say that every
ranger is a dead shot, both with a rifle and
revolver A coporal receives S35 a month.
| a sergeant $50 a month, lieutenant SIS and
allowance for two horses, a captain 500 a
month and allowance for two horses. There
| is no higher rank in the rangers than
| captain, though when two or three COM
panies act together the senior captain is
| commander,
The Texas ranger is a curious compound
| of a soldier and police officer. He is State
| police officer and soldier at the same time.
In the former capacity he performs the
duties of a deputy sheriff in every county in
| the State, and is authorized oarrest fugitives
| from Justice without a warrant. A list of
| these fugitives is furnished from time to
| time to every ranger, together with their
| descriptions, and it is his duty to commit it
! to memory The services that this body of
| State troops has rendered to Texas are
| incalculable. While all New Mexico and
Arizona have been for years past overrun
| by hostile Apaches the frontier of Texas has
never suffered. The manner in which the
rangers utterly exterminated the Lepans
and KickapooS as we'll as the Comanches isa
| lively reminder to the Apaches and Navajoes
| not to cross the Rio Grande where it borders
| on the Lone Star State.
| Here is an incident which threatened at
| one time to lead to serious international
| complications. A young Eastern man
named Conklin came down to New Mexico
in 1880 and started a paper at SocorTo. He
was nice young fellow, and soon became
very popular among the few Americans in
| that thoroughly Mexican town. On Christ
mas eve, 1880, there was q kind of church
| festival held, of which Conklin was manager.
| While it was in progress two young Mexlcam
named Baca made themselves very noisy Id
the room, and as they refused to keep quet
Conklin expelled them. One of them,
young fellow about %, got revolver, and
as Conklin was going home with bis wife
one of the brothers pulled him aside and the
other shot him dead ON the spot. The muir
derers got off, although the whole town
turned out to chase them. Nothing was
heard of either of them for several months.
One day Sergt. Gillett of Capt. Baylors
company of rangers, then stationed at
little town called Isleta, ON the Rio Grande,
about six miles east of Ell Paso, learned thaS
one of the Bacas was clerking in small
store in the Mexican town of SaragosSa,
directly opposite on the other bank OF the
river Without making any application lor
extradition papers, Gillett went 10 thd
corporal of his company, and, selecuns
another ranger, the three agreed TO go acIyos
the river and capture Baca They got 10 lno
SUOtt uuODSeINeu. OliltuJ CONClON
Baca with his revolver and call upon MN
to surrender. Before the people around knew
what was up the rangers had their prisoneL
behind one of them on a horse, ana IhoJ
made for the American side.
For about two miles and a half they wer S
chased by indignant Mexicans VINO ma, 1au
mounted, many of them without Saoui as
and with only rope around there hoisc ;.
noses. The RACERS kept changing In tha
prisoner from one horse to another until C-is
river bank was gained, and the pursueuan az"
pursuers exchanged shots all the We
When the rangers reached the middle OF .nS
stream the Mexicans gave up the chas - IN
returned to Saragossa Gillett was gn oLs
of his action not being approved OF ah anu onr
went up to Socorro and turned his pTlsoESl
over to the Sheriff. The next day the II
dignant populace hung Baca up to a co''O"
wood tree -Lioh
Another example of the manner IN VIM Vim.
border officers dispense with the nice l9 ~ Nv
aities of extradition papers is furnisneu
the tacit agreement which exists pe T",+e
the Mexican officers at Paso Del ToIo'
Mexico, and the rangers in Ell Paso, IeA tbs
When the rangers know that the man IL ~ ~
neighborhood Of the Mexican town, uhe NV
over and inform the chief Of police, tnae Dr.s3
want such man. The Mexican poiice . a. al
him on some trivial charge or no cnaISJ16 Ia
ALL They bring the prisoner to the nhUr
of the street car bridge, where an ina ;co
line divides the United States from MeAvvV